Friends,

This past Sunday marked the beginning of our summer routine. I love summer at St. Luke’s. The morning is fast-paced, but exciting, with three back-to-back services at 8:00, 9:00, and 10:00. The 9:00 am outdoor service is especially exciting as the kids get energized to help set the table and compete for what they perceive as preferred tasks, like pouring the wine and holding the chalice during the administration of communion. We also had a new person serving at the altar. I introduced him at 8:00 and 9:00, and of course, totally forgot at 10:00. Thank goodness, he’ll be back this Sunday, so I’ll get another chance!

Micah Brown is our intern for the summer. He and his wife, Dewey, moved to the area from the West Coast so Micah could attend Virginia Theological Seminary. While in seminary, Micah discerned a call to the priesthood and used St. Luke’s as his home Church. If you’re wondering, typically this is done the other way around, but that’s ok. He did his field education at another Church this past academic year, but plans to stick around St. Luke’s for his final year in an unofficial capacity. However, for the next seven weeks, he will be our full-time unpaid intern. This is part of his discernment with the Diocese of Virginia, and I am absolutely thrilled to have him around. It’s people like Micah that give me hope in the future of the Church. He is highly competent, and I suspect his sermon this Sunday will be at least adequate. Though these things are great, they are not the reason he gives me hope. It is his faithfulness and earnest approach to ministry that make the difference. You can be the best academic or have all the charisma in the world, but if you are not faithful and earnest, then it is all for nought.

All of that was a lead-in to what I wanted to talk to you about. I think I am in an extreme minority among clergy types in that if I ever have a full-time associate, I want to insist that both of us preach every Sunday. The reasoning is simple. The more you do something, the better you get at it. As priests, we are called to do many things, and I believe we are called to preach or pray at the drop of a hat, and I think that we should be prepared to do either at any time. There is a constant temptation to treat sermons like academic papers, which I can’t help but feel stunts growth. There are good sermons, bad sermons, and tons in between, but there is no grade, and there certainly is no failure. How can you be constantly prepared to preach the Good News if fear of failure drives the preacher? If fear motivates our ministry, then we are constantly burdened by perceived potential failure around every turn.

While Micah is our summer intern, he will be preaching every week, and so will I. When I preach at 8:00 and 10:00, he will preach at 9:00, and we’ll switch back and forth each week. I don’t think Micah realizes how much freedom he has as our unpaid intern, and more than anything, I hope he lets himself fail at least once. If he gives a sermon that doesn’t land, what am I going to do, fire him? His purpose with us is to learn and grow, and paradoxically, one of the best ways to improve a skill is to abandon the need for perfection every time. One day, he will be a solo priest, something terrible will happen when he normally writes his sermon, and on Sunday, he will climb into the pulpit less prepared than he is accustomed, and the worst thing he could feel is fear.

Preaching our salvation through Jesus cannot be rooted in fear when Jesus is offering love. Micah is preaching at 8:00 and 10:00 this week. He put a lot of work into his sermon, and I am sure that it will be profound. Even if it is not, then he has nothing to fear, because this place is rooted in love.

-Nick